Meta Apex will be the setting for the first UFC Fight Night card of the year this Saturday evening. 24 hours before the Super Bowl in Santa Clara, CA, MMA is centered in Enterprise, NV.
Live coverage of UFC Vegas 113 begins with the undercard at 5:00 PM ET/2:00 PM PT on Paramount Plus before heading to the main card at 8pm ET/5pm PT on the streaming platform. All things considered, if no adjustments need to be made to the fight order in the final days leading up to this event, the final version of Saturday’s card will feature a 13-match series from the best MMA promotion in the world.
UFC Vegas 113 Main Event: No. 9 contender Mario Bautista vs. No. 11 contender Vinicius Oliveira
At the top of the bill on Saturday night at UFC Vegas 113 in Enterprise, the bantamweights take to the legendary Octagon when No. 9 contender Mario Bautista (16-3 MMA, 10-3 UFC) battles No. 11 contender Vinicius Oliveira (23-3 MMA, 4-0 UFC). This main event is an advertised maximum of five rounds of five minutes per round.
Bautista enters the evening’s main event with a record of 4-1 in his last five fights dating back to August 2023. He will look to get back into the win column this Saturday after dropping a unanimous decision to Umar Nurmagomedov (20-1 MMA, 8-1 UFC) at UFC 325 last October.
Saturday’s fight marks a major milestone for Mario Bautista and his camp as he will make the walk to the cage for the twentieth time as a professional. A win in the main event of UFC Vegas 113 means he’s potentially a win or two away from firmly in the title picture at 135.
Meanwhile, Vinicius Oliveira, who defeated his opponent a “boring fighter” on Wednesday’s media day, makes the trip to the cage this weekend with a 5-0 record in his last five fights since joining the UFC’s active roster Contender series by Dana White in September 2023. In all competitions, he is currently on a six-fight winning streak.
Most recently, he scored a unanimous decision victory against Kyler Phillips (12-4 MMA, 6-3 UFC) on the undercard of UFC 318 in New Orleans last July. Saturday’s bout at UFC Vegas 113 will be only Oliveira’s fifth appearance in the UFC and his first main event. Before that, he was primarily an undercard fighter, so earning the main event spot in his fifth match is nothing short of impressive.
The lights will shine brighter than ever before for Oliveira. How will he fare in his first UFC main event?
UFC Vegas 113 Co-Main Event: No. 6 contender Amir Albazi vs. No. 8 contender Kyoji Horiguchi
Immediately prior to the main event, during the co-headlining bout of UFC Vegas 113, flyweights go to battle. It will be a moving day in the division as No. 6 contender Amir Albazi (17-2 MMA, 5-1 UFC) collides with No. 8 contender Kyoji Horiguchi (35-5, 1 NC MMA, 8-1 UFC).
This fight lasts three rounds and lasts five minutes per round. Albazi will make his 20th appearance as a professional fighter this weekend with a 4-1 record in his last five bouts.
However, he has not competed under MMA rules since November 2, 2024. That night, he dropped a unanimous decision to Brandon Moreno (23-9-2 MMA, 11-6-2 UFC) after 15 minutes of action. A scheduled main event fight on August 2, 2025 against Tatsuro Taira at the Apex was postponed as he withdrew from the show due to medical issues he encountered.
Albazi, in the meantime, has been busy competing in wrestling matches and securing a decisive victory over Rashid Vagabov a week before the Christmas holidays in December. By the time the cage door closes Saturday night, 462 days will have passed between appearances in the UFC.
How much ring rust will he have when he takes on a seasoned veteran of the ilk of Kyoji Horiguchi? Only time will tell.
On the other side, Kyoji Horiguchi, an alumnus of Rizin Fighting Federation and the late Bellator MMA, enters his second fight in his second stint in the UFC with a 4-0 record with one no-contest in his past five fights. He made a successful UFC return in November by finishing Tagir Ulanbekov (17-3 MMA, 6-2 UFC) with a rear naked choke in the third round in Qatar.
Including all promotions, this is his 42nd career appearance. It is also his 10th UFC fight over his two stints. Can Horiguchi reach nine wins in the UFC in the UFC Vegas 113 co-main event?
UFC Vegas 113: No. 6 contender Jailton Almeida vs. Rizvan Kuniev
Also on the main card, the heavyweights battle it out as No. 6 prospect Jailton Almeida (22-4 MMA, 8-2 UFC) takes on Rizvan Kuniev (13-3-1, 1 NC MMA, 0-1 UFC). Almeida lands in Enterprise ahead of Saturday’s show on the strength of a 3-2 record in his last five fights.
On October 25 at UFC 321, he tasted a split-decision defeat against Alexander Volkov (39-11 MMA, 11-5 UFC). Before that he had won two fights in a row. Will he return to victory lane at UFC Vegas 113?
In the other corner, Rizvan Kuniev has gone 3-1 in his past five fights with one no-contest. On June 21, he dropped a split decision to Curtis Blaydes (19-5, 1 NC MMA, 14-5, 1 NC UFC) in Baku. Almeida should not have been Kuniev’s opponent this weekend.
Initially, Kuniev was booked to fight Ryan Spann on Saturday night, before withdrawing from the show for unknown reasons and Almeida accepting the fight in late January. With only a few weeks’ lead time, how has Kuniev adjusted his game plan for UFC Vegas 113?
Rest of the map
The UFC Vegas 113 main card will be supplemented with these matches:
- a middleweight bout matching Michal Oleksiejczuk (21-9, 1 NC MMA, 9-7, 1 NC UFC) with Marc-Andre Barriault (17-10, 1 NC MMA, 6-9, 1 NC UFC)
- a bantamweight attraction opposite Jean Matsumoto (17-1 MMA, 3-1 UFC) and Farid Basharat (14-0 MMA, 5-0 UFC)
- and a light heavyweight bout featuring Dustin Jacoby (21-9-1 MMA, 9-6-1 UFC) against Julius Walker (7-1 MMA, 1-1 UFC).
What fights are you looking forward to on the main card? Let us know in the comments.
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